Reliable, constant communication is critical during a disaster. Network operators incur significant expense in providing communications capabilities during disasters such as for example hurricanes. Part of these costs are related to restoring the damaged infrastructure, for example cell sites and outside plant that had been destroyed and providing refunds to customers with no cell service.
After a disaster strikes, network operator teams seek to restore cell service to the greatest number of customers as quickly as possible, and dispatch technicians, contractors and emergency recovery assets (e.g. generators, cell on wheels). Due to the lack of cell service, network operator teams must rely on historical network usage to determine what to fix first. As a result, a damaged cell site that historically served a large number of customers will receive a higher priority on the dispatch list. This use of historical information to generate a priority list in a disaster environment results in sub-optimal dispatches, since customers' day-to-day behavior changes dramatically during and after a disaster. For example, instead of following normal daily routines, people may have been ordered to evacuate, or perhaps have bunkered down in their home or at a local shelter for several days. These types of changes are not captured in historical data.
Network operators have utilized the Service Impact Analyzer (SIA) to determine the number of customers that utilize a given cell site (see for example U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/088,279). SIA may analyze over 3 months' worth of cell site key performance indicators to generate this number and Radio Access Network teams utilize this data to generate a cell site priority list. Related to disasters, many companies also perform aerial surveys of an area, and use vision related systems, such as cameras, LIDAR or infrared technology, to generate pictures and locate people. However, these systems do not provide accurate data about the distribution of UEs after a disaster to generate inaccurate cell site priority list.
There is a need to provide accurate localization information about the distribution of UEs after a disaster for among other things generating a cell site priority list or providing the information to first responders.